Moldova - The Consequences of Several Shocks for Consumption and Poverty
The distribution of consumption in Moldova implies that changes in workers' remittances, migration, and energy prices could influence consumption and poverty rates in some unexpected and even counter-intuitive ways. Relatively well-off groups,...
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| Format: | Other Poverty Study |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank
2012
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| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000333037_20091014002459 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3117 |
| Summary: | The distribution of consumption in
Moldova implies that changes in workers' remittances,
migration, and energy prices could influence consumption and
poverty rates in some unexpected and even counter-intuitive
ways. Relatively well-off groups, rather than the poor,
benefit most from remittances and have the most to lose from
a decline. The burden of an energy price shock is spread
through the economy, although the poor are most affected
because they consume somewhat more energy in proportion to
their consumption. The consumption of relatively wealthy
groups is linked directly to price of natural gas, while the
consumption of the poor is linked more directly to the price
of wood fuel. And, child poverty is most closely linked to
family dissolution, rather than to migration in itself.
Migrants come disproportionately from relatively rich
households, and this is true even after adjustment for the
income received from remittances. The conclusion is to urge
research into the dynamics of family solidarity and
dissolution in Moldova, since this may suggest interventions
to reduce child poverty. To deepen understanding of child
poverty, it will be useful to collect the data necessary to
construct better indicators of outcomes for children with
absent parents, for instance, on their school attendance,
educational achievement, and nutrition. |
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